December 18, 2012

Between Tony's Faith & Abbott's Ambition

In the months since Marr's essay was published, enormous effort has gone into ensuring Abbott is reduced to one disputed paragraph: a dangerously angry young man who throws a punch at a wall near a woman's head. That impression of Abbott as an aggressive misogynist has been carved in stone by the Prime Minister's declaration of gender war.

But that Abbott is at odds with the Tony found elsewhere by Marr. We encounter a minister that staff and bureaucrats described as "admirably polite," someone who "never explored [cuts] with relish. People find this amazing but he doesn't seek conflict." We learn he was devastated that cabinet overturned his "rock-solid, iron-clad" commitment not to lift the Medicare safety-net thresholds, and considered resigning. This fits with...